WHICH FUTURE FOR FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE?
2012; Routledge; Volume: 13; Issue: 5-6 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/1461670x.2012.664352
ISSN1469-9699
Autores Tópico(s)Media Studies and Communication
ResumoAbstract This article challenges the widespread idea that, in an age of instantaneous and ubiquitously accessible information, foreign correspondents are doomed to disappear. The last study of foreign correspondents in the London hub was conducted 30 years ago. Based on a new study involving a range of in-depth interviews with foreign correspondents in the British capital, the article reveals the “story behind their stories” and the changes that have occurred since then. It particularly focuses on the impact that advances in communication technologies have had on the correspondents’ professional identity, newsgathering routines, and news outputs. The findings contribute to a more nuanced and empirical understanding of the impact of media globalization on the practice of journalism. They underline the increasingly important role of foreign correspondents as “sense makers” within the huge tide of information available. While foreign journalists have to a large extent always fulfilled this function, they appear more needed than ever in a deeply interdependent world. Foreign correspondents are also developing novel ways of reporting. Indeed, rather than a “crisis” of foreign correspondence, we could perhaps be witnessing its renaissance. Keywords: foreign correspondentfreelancejournalismnewsstaff reporter ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The study presented in this article would have not been possible without the generous time contributions made by all foreign correspondents who took part in the interviews, the help of the London Foreign Press Association, and the financial support of the Salford University Research Innovation and Strategic Fund. I am grateful to Professor Howard Tumber, whom I met in the preliminary stages of the project, for sharing his experience in conducting interviews with journalists. Notes 1. On the disappearance of foreign correspondents, see Kalb (1990 Kalb, Marvin. 1990. “Foreword”. In The Media and Foreign Policy, Edited by: Serfaty, Simon. New York: St. Martin's Press. [Google Scholar]) and Hiatt (2007 Hiatt , Fred 2007 “ The Vanishing Foreign Correspondent ”, The Washington Post , 29 January . [Google Scholar]); on the “evolution” of their role and activities, see Hamilton and Jenner (2004 Hamilton, John Maxwell and Eric, Jenner. 2004. Redefining Foreign Correspondence. Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, 5(3): 301–21. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]). 2. Here are just a few relatively recent texts the reader might want to consult. In relation to foreign correspondence in general: Hannerz (2004 Hannerz, Ulf. 2004. Foreign News: exploring the world of foreign correspondents, London: University of Chicago Press. [Google Scholar]); the special issue of Journalism Studies 11(5) (2010); Sambrook (2010 Sambrook , Richard 2010 “ Are Foreign Correspondents Redundant? The changing face of international news ”, Oxford : Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism . [Google Scholar]). About foreign correspondence in the United Kingdom: Morrison and Tumber (1981 Morrison , David and Tumber , Howard 1981 “ Foreign Media Correspondents Based in London ”, ESRC-funded Project, Final Report . [Google Scholar], 1985 Morrison, David and Tumber, Howard. 1985. The Foreign Correspondent: date-line London”, Media. Culture and Society, 7(4): 445–70. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]); Bober (1999 Bober , Magdalena 1999 “ Coining the Image of Britain: a comparative radio newsroom study at the German HR3 Inform Magazine and the London Foreign Correspondent Bureau ”, MA dissertation, Centre for Mass Communication Research, University of Leicester . [Google Scholar]). On foreign correspondence in the United States: Hess (1996 Hess, Stephen. 1996. International News and Foreign Correspondents, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. [Google Scholar], 2005 Hess, Stephen. 2005. Through Their Eyes: foreign correspondents in the United States, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution. [Google Scholar]); Wilnat and Weaver (2003 Wilnat, Lars and Weaver, David. 2003. Through Their Eyes: the work of foreign correspondents in the United States”, Journalism: Theory. Practice and Criticism, 4(4): 403–22. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]); Hamilton and Jenner (2004 Hamilton, John Maxwell and Eric, Jenner. 2004. Redefining Foreign Correspondence. Journalism: Theory, Practice and Criticism, 5(3): 301–21. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]); Wu and Hamilton (2004 Wu, H. and Hamilton, John Maxwell. 2004. US Foreign Correspondents: changes and continuity at the turn of the century. International Communication Gazette, 66(6): 517–32. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar]); Hamilton (2009 Hamilton, John Maxwell. 2009. Journalism's Roving Eye: a history of American foreign reporting, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press. [Google Scholar]). 3. Some organizations have not been named to protect the anonymity of the journalists who prefer not to be identified. 4. Again, some names of correspondents and details of organizations have been omitted for confidentiality reasons. 5. According to Carroll (2006 Carroll , Jill 2006 “ Foreign News Coverage: the U.S. media's undervalued asset ”, Working Paper Series, Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy , Harvard University , Cambridge , MA . [Google Scholar], p. 13), an average American paper bureau costs between $200,000 and $300,000 a year. 6. Interview with Christopher Wyld, London Foreign Press Association director (autumn 2008), and with John Hewitt, International Media Officer at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (March 2011). 7. Tristan de Bourbon Parme, for example, works for Le Soir (Belgian newspaper); La Tribune de Geneve/24Heures (Swiss newspaper); MyEurop (French website); L'Humanité (French newspaper); France Soir (French newspaper). An anonymous Finnish correspondent works for four outlets: a Finnish newspaper, a Finnish website, two specialized publications (one Finnish, one Swedish). 8. See more about this story at: “Phone-hacking Scandal: timeline”, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14124020.
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